In humans, chimerism is a rare genetic disorder where the blood contains two genetically distinct blood types, featuring more than one set of DNA.

You lived alone, first by choice, then out of habit, perched in the drafty window sill with
the pothos and the schefflera, studying the starlings, so separate from the shatter and
gasp. And then you were twinned, born one May, quietly mewling, wet fingers reaching.
The routine operation, after which the doctors introduced you to yourself. Chimerism,
they said, shadow wombed. You are: a sister self. You are: born wet and two. You are
unmade. All you heard was the gentle rush of the word twin. A breath slipped through
your lips you didn’t know you were holding. You met yourself ­ the pushy nose of a
twinflower edging above the surface of the dirt. The linneae borealis nodded in the
woods, two pink heads blushing and conspiring.

Author of the article

Ashley Roach-Freiman is pursuing an MFA in creative writing at the University of Memphis, where she is Poetry Editor of The Pinch. She coordinates the Impossible Language reading series in Memphis, TN and has poems forthcoming in Dunes Review and THRUSH Poetry Journal.